Poker Machine Count In N.C. Starts
In North Carolina, the Guilford County Sheriff's office is already making an effort to track the number of video poker machines in establishments. Sgt. E.G. Siler has already sent out notices to Guilford County locations saying that they could now have no more than two video poker machines.
"I've got several (people) out and I'm short-staffed this week," he said Oct. 4. "But next week I'll be out in the car checking on these places."
A different department employee is keeping track of the site list, according to Siler. He could not recall how many establishments have more than two machines in the county, but he said that it was not a large number. He added that since the new state limit on video poker machines took place, he has not received any reports on violations.
"We sent out that letter, and hopefully -- hopefully -- that helped," he said.
Video poker machines have been legal in N.C. as long as the prizes given out from playing on the machine does not exceed $10.
The video poker machines are preset to guarantee profits for the owners. However, some video poker machine owners have been reported to make illegal cash payouts, sometimes by the hundreds, to encourage more players.
Critics of the game have likened its addictive quality to cocaine.
The number of allowable video poker machines per establishment in the state will be further reduced to one by March 1 next year, to be followed by a total ban come July 1, 2007.
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